Odd
by WishUponAStar22
Summary: Watch Rumple and Belle's love grow over her time at the Dark Castle. It'll be fun! Dont miss it! Oh and if for some reason you decided to read a RumBelle fanfic without watching Skin Deep then I should warn you that there are spoilers for that. Sorry, my summaries kinda suck.
1. He Didn't Really Need Her

**A/N: Hi peoples! This is my first fanfic. I got obsessed with this ship so I thought I might share my ramblings with you people. To warn you, I don't think this is very well written and please excuse all spelling and punctuation mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not getting any money for this, because, sadly, I don't own Once Upon A Time, if I did Ariel would have been in the first episode and Rumplestiltskin would be seen every week.**

Odd

He didn't really need her, Rumplestiltskin thought. The castle took care of itself; there was no need for a housekeeper. But there was something about her, the king's daughter, that interested him. She didn't turn away in disgust or show any anger or hatred towards him in her bright blue eyes, truth was, she seemed more curious than anything.

"My price… is her," he said pointing at the girl. The king whispered "no," as the girl's fiancé said loudly "the young lady is engaged… to me."

Rumplestiltskin twittered at the knights idiocy "I wasn't asking if she was engaged, I'm not looking for _love_, I'm looking for a caretaker for my rather large estate," he carefully enunciated his words in the wrong places and he used grand gestures just to creep out the people in the room, make them think he was crazier than he actually was. "It's her or no deal."

"Get out!" the king roared "Leave!" the Dark One simply shrugged, as he walked out he noticed that the dull knight pushed the girl away from him, as if to hide her, he would have laughed at the thought but the girl stopped him.

"No, wait, I will go with him," she said defiantly. Rumplestiltskin clapped his hands in glee as the idiotic knight said "I forbid it," but the girl rounded on him and said "Nobody decides my fate but me, I shall go."

"It's forever, dearie," the imp warned, he was nothing if not fair.

"My family, my friends, they will all live," she clarified.

"You have my word," he said with a mock bow.

"Then you have mine, I will go with you… forever."

"Deal!" Rumplestiltskin quivered with glee at the thought of a new deal being struck.

"Belle-Belle, you cannot do this" the king said to his daughter "Belle, please you cannot go with this… beast," the king looked at Rumplestiltskin in disgust as the Dark One let out a mock gasp of surprise, he knew he was a monster, he didn't need this stupid king to tell him so.

"Father… Gaston, it's been decided," said Belle, putting on a brave face.

Rumplestiltskin walked up behind her and said in his high pitched voice "You know, she's right, the deal has been struck," that left the war room in a rather grim atmosphere as the imp said "Oh, and congratulations on your little war," then he walked out with the beauty as the battle being held outside of the castle suddenly subsided.

* * *

"Where are we going? What's your home like? Is it large?" Belle plowed on without waiting for any answers, Rumplestiltskin couldn't figure out how one person could have so many questions. At one point she had asked the same question for the fifth time and he blew up at her, and told her to be quiet. She was silent for a grand total of ten minutes before she started her rapid fire of questions again. _Well, this is better than talking to yourself_, he thought. Now _that _could make you go crazy.

When they finally got to the Dark Castle Rumplestiltskin thought it was a blessing. He grabbed Belle by the arm and ushered her into the main hall, he hardly gave her any time to look around at the magnificent room before pulling her towards the stairs leading under the castle. "Where- where are you taking me?" she asked.

The Dark One smirked "Let's call it… your room."

When they got to the dark, dank room Belle looked at him in surprise, "My room?!"

"Well, it sounds a lot nicer than 'dungeon'," he shoved her into the room and locked the giant, thick door on her.

"You just can't leave me in here," Belle shouted as Rumplestiltskin quivered with glee. _I can do anything I want, _he thought as he left the dungeon.

* * *

The next day he let her out of "her room" so could tell her her duties. He was surprised to find that the girl didn't seem to harbor any hate for him, she followed him almost happily as he led her to the kitchen.

While she was serving him tea, Rumplestiltskin began telling her what her chores would be. Of course, almost none of it was true, all she'd really have to do was the laundry and cooking, and other than that the castle pretty much took care of itself.

While he was telling her all of her many "chores" he wondered what would be enough to unnerve her, she was far to calm for a woman who is being forced into his servitude, so he added "Oh… and you will skin the children I hunt for their pelts," the second that came out of his mouth her jaw dropped in surprise and the teacup she was holding tumbled out of her hands as she was still trying to process such a horrible request.

"That one was a quip," he said with an annoying grin, "Not serious."

To his surprise Belle smiled at him as she went to retrieve to fallen teacup. Who would ever smile at _him, _he wondered.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Belle said, turning the imp's attention back to her. She was holding up the cup she had dropped, "but it's- it's chipped. You can hardly see it," he looked up at the cup, there was a shard missing in the lip, it was barely noticeable. He didn't know what possessed him to say it, but he did, "Well, it's just a cup."

* * *

Over the next couple of days Belle spent a lot of time familiarizing herself with the Dark Castle. She went from room to room and back again, trying to figure out where everything was.

By the third day with her there Rumplestiltskin noticed that she was coughing, almost uncontrollably so. It was at the point of annoyance when he realized that it must be the dampness of her cell that was causing her to cough. He would have dismissed it, she would get used to the dampness, but she sounded so pitiful every time she slipped into a fit of coughing.

So that night before she could go to "her room", the imp took her by the arm and led her down to the servant's quarters.

Belle was tired and confused when he opened the doors with a flick of the hand and presented the room to her, "Do you want me to clean it?" she asked, then Rumplestiltskin smiled one of those stupid, impish grins that made her want to laugh and reminded her to be wary at the same time.

"Well, you could do that," he said in his annoying, high voice, "But I was rather hoping you'd sleep in it," then he let out a giggle that made her laugh too. She looked into the room, it wasn't big, but it had a bed with a mattress and she wanted nothing more than to jump into it and get a restful night of sleep.

"Thank you so much," Belle whispered, and then she headed into the room. Rumplestiltskin closed the door behind her and walked back down the hall, wondering why her "thank you" made him feel so good.

* * *

The Dark Castle was alive, or at least as alive as an inanimate thing can get. It would communicate with Rumplestiltskin if there was someone in the house or if someone was coming close to it and a whole matter of things that could only matter to the Dark One.

Since Belle arrived at the castle had been tracking her whereabouts and relaying them back to the imp. After a few weeks he realized that she hadn't ever been to the library. It hardly surprised him, the door to the room was hiding in a corner behind one of the staircases, it was almost unnoticeable.

Belle walked into the main hall, while he was spinning, with tea. "Have you been to the library in your time here," he asked Belle, turning away from his wheel. Belle's brow furrowed, but he noticed a spark in her eyes when she said, "We have a library?"

"Indeed, we do, I'll show you."

He led her to the double doors, when he opened then he heard a gasp come from the girl beside him. She was staring at the room in awe, he looked from her then back to the room, it didn't seem all that wonderful to him.

"Where did you get all these books," she asked breathlessly. Rumplestiltskin looked at her confused, "The same way you get yours, I suppose," he said. Though that was probably very untrue, some of the books he got from deals but most of them were collected from those whose deals ended poorly. He was happy to see that Belle was ecstatic about the library, he left the room so she could enjoy the books alone, plus he had potions to brew anyway.

Belle had never seen a library so large, not even in her father's castle. It was a giant room and every inch of wall was taken up by floor to ceiling bookshelves, each overflowing with tomes.

She began exploring; she had nothing else to do that day, and despite whatever Rumplestiltskin told her she had realized that the castle cleaned itself. She found a small section of books; _these must be the ones he reads_, she thought noting the bent spines. By the time she realized she should be cooking dinner Belle found five books she wanted to read.

Belle hurried in making and eating dinner. She couldn't wait until she had the chance to get lost in a whole new world through her books.

Late that night, while the Dark One was still spinning, the castle told him that Belle was in the library. That was odd, he thought, usually by this time Belle was in her room either sleeping or getting ready for the next day. He went to go see what she was doing.

He leaned against the doorframe leading into the library, Belle didn't hear him open the door, she was too engrossed in her book to notice much of anything. He watched her expression while she read, it changed slowly from happiness to anger to shock then back to happiness again. Rumplestiltskin smiled to himself, how had he gotten such an odd caretaker?

He walked across the room, she still didn't notice, and he stood behind her. He would have made his presence known or told her to go to bed, but he wanted to know what was so good about her book. He began reading over her shoulder, at some point he changed his position so that he was sitting on his knees and reading over her shoulder.

They sat there for a long time. Belle never knew that Rumplestiltskin was there until he read something that made him laugh out loud. She jumped out of her chair as if it had electrocuted her, and then turned to him. He stood up too and absentmindedly smoothed his shirt as Belle tried recover from her panic attack.

"You nearly scared me half to death!" she shouted accusingly at him.

Rumplestiltskin smiled at her, but it wasn't his usual impish grin, it was softer, almost human, "Sorry, Belle, I was only reading," Belle took at deep breath, she wondered if she would ever get used to the Dark One's strangeness, probably not.

"Well, next time you can make yourself known and I can read _to _you," she said. He thought about her words for a moment, and then broke out into another grin.

"It's a deal then," he said with his usual giggle. Belle shook her head as she left the room.

"You're so odd," she muttered, just loud enough for him to hear. He was thinking the exact same thing about her.

**A/N: So there it was, if you guys liked it I'll add more chapters, actually I'll probably do that anyways, I hoped you liked it though.**

**PLEASE review, if you know what I mean.**


	2. There Was Something About Her

**A/N: Thank you all sooooooooo much for the reviews, its not actually a lot when compared to the views and follows (hint, hint), but every time I saw a new review my day got a million times better.**

**This chapter is mostly just drabble, but its cute and sweet and the ending's really good so I recommend you read it, and I think its longer than the other one so… have fun with that. Oh, and warning, there will probably only be 2 or 3 more chapters after this one.**

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Once Upon a Time, you don't have to rub it in.**

Odd

After a month with her at the castle Belle and Rumplestiltskin were finally comfortable around each other. When they spoke they sounded more like friends and less like master and servant. Belle loved the fact that he could actually carry on an intelligent conversation, something she found refreshing after being betrothed to Gaston. Not that she didn't like Gaston, but all he talked about was hunting and fighting, two topics that Belle found to be particularly boring.

But with Rumplestiltskin she could tell him about anything (as long as she didn't mind being teased, which she didn't) and he would respond with something that actually pertained to the conversation, it was almost a miracle. Though he did have an annoying habit of avoiding personal questions.

Rumplestiltskin found that he like talking to Belle too. He enjoyed telling her about his travels, because he always saw the spark in her sky blue eyes whenever he described the different places. He, also, liked getting into debates with her, he would intentionally favor the opposing side just to see her get passionate about whatever they were talking about, it was amazing how emotionally invested she could get into something.

Most of their conversations would happen in either the main hall or the library. Rumplestiltskin preferred to spend time with her in the library, he wasn't sure why he liked being around her so much, but she was great company.

They spent a lot of evenings in the massive room, sometimes he would read but mostly she would read aloud to him. Which he would have to say, he preferred. When she read he could listen to her voice, and though Rumplestiltskin would never willingly admit it to her, or to himself, he thought her voice was beautiful. Every time he heard her sing or talk, it always made him feel… lighter, he wasn't sure why but he liked the feeling.

One night Belle was reading when she suddenly stopped, effectively breaking Rumplestiltskin out of his thoughts. "I need something to call you," she said.

"You could always use my name," he offered his voice laced with mischief.

Belle rolled her eyes, "'Rumplestiltskin' is much too long a name to say several times a day," she said closing her book with a snap, "Really, what was your mother thinking when she came up with that name?"

He shook his head, he had a running theory that his parents were under the influence when they came up with 'Rumplestiltskin', though the name did come in handy when someone wanted to guess it. "Well, you can shorten it, if you like," he stated. He had noticed that he had started talking normally (more or less) when he was around Belle, which was a relief 'cause he was starting to believe his normal voice was the one he used around the people he dealt with.

Belle thought about it for a minute, "How about 'Rumple'?" she asked.

Rumplestiltskin almost winced at the nickname, "No, someone… unpleasant calls me that," he said, thinking of the Evil Queen, "I wouldn't want to associate you with them."

She nodded, "Then how about just 'Rum'?"

Rumplestiltskin thought about it for a second then nodded, "I like that," he said

* * *

It was winter. One day Belle had decided to see what she could find for ingredients in the small garden she planted when she first got to the Dark Castle. Of course, there wasn't a lot to see, but she still spent half the day trying to pick what was left of the various vegetables.

She immediately regretted it the next day when she woke up with a fever and a constant sneeze. She still got up and cooked breakfast anyway, she wasn't going to let a fever ruin her plans for the day.

Rumplestiltskin was in the main hall waiting for breakfast when he heard a loud sneeze from the hall, and then Belle came from behind the door with two plates in her hands. She looked paler than usual and her face was cloudy from her recent sneeze. "You're sick," he said bluntly, "You shouldn't be out of bed, Belle."

"I'm fine, Rum," she said stubbornly.

He shook his head, "Anyone with eyes could see that you're not fine," he said," You even look a little green."

"Says the one whose green all the time," she retorted.

Rumplestiltskin shook his head again, then took the plates from her and set them on the table. He then turned her around and marched her down to the servant's quarters.

She protested only a little bit, her growing drowsiness disagreeing with what her intentions had been for the day.

He stayed in her room until she was under the covers of her bed; he wanted to make sure that she was going to at least attempt to sleep before hiding away in the library. He turned to leave the room when she stopped him, "Wait… can you stay?" she asked.

Rumplestiltskin gave her a confused look until she elaborated, "It's just that… whenever I was sick as a kid my mother would stay with me until I was healthy… it just always makes me feel better," she finished shyly. He nodded like he understood, then sat in the chair next to her bed.

Belle smiled at him before she drifted off to sleep. Rumplestiltskin knew that if any other person asked him to do what Belle just did he would have told them to grow up or just ignored them and walked away, then again if it were any other person he would have made them worked through the sickness, but this was Belle, and there was just something about her…

He sat at her bedside all day. And even though he tried not to, he stared at her for most of the day. He took in her sleeping features and wondered how one person could be so beautiful. All it was was eyes and ears, a mouth and a nose, all things that he had, and while he was most definitely a beast she was an exceptional beauty. But he knew her beauty went far deeper than just her face, she was also extremely kind and generous and somehow always optimistic to a degree that he would never understand.

At some point the color returned to her cheeks and he let out a sigh of relief, she was going to be fine. He wished that he could have healed her, but his magic could only heal open wounds and small ones at that.

Finally her eyes fluttered open to find him still sitting on the chair next to her bed.

"It's about time you woke up, Sleeping Beauty," he said with a court jester grin plastered on his face. Belle stuck her tongue out at him, making them both laugh. Then Rumplestiltskin grew serious for a moment, "Is there anything I can get you?" he asked.

Belle began giggling at that, "Aren't I supposed to be the servant."

Rumplestiltskin shook his head and smiled, "Not today."

* * *

One day Belle and Rumplestiltskin were in the main hall, Rumplestiltskin was spinning as usual, most of the time Belle left him alone when he did that, he got irritated with her whenever she bothered him while he was spinning, but she had a question and she couldn't keep it from coming out of her mouth. "Why do you spin so much?"

Rumplestiltskin stopped spinning for a moment, trying to decide how best to answer the question when she continued, "I'm sorry," she said quickly, "Its just… you've spun more straw into gold than you could ever spend."

"I like to watch the wheel," Rumplestiltskin responded, he decided on the truth, or at least it used to be true. "It helps me forget."

"Forget what?" she asked. He should have known she was going to ask that, he was foolish to think otherwise.

This time he decided to avoid the question, "I guess it worked!" then he let out his usual giggle, the one he knew would make Belle laugh, then he noticed that she was up on a ladder pulling on the drapes, "What are you doing?"

"Opening these, it's almost spring, we should let some light in," she said confidently, _where did she get an idea like that,_ he wondered. She pulled on the curtains again, "What did you do? Nail them down?"

"Yes," he said he was the _Dark_ One after all; the title implied that he didn't enjoy the light. Belle scoffed at him then tugged at the drapes again.

Then, faster than he could react, the curtains were down and Belle landed in his arms. His skin was tingling, she was so close, no one had ever been this close. He was blinking at the sudden light, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest, surely she could feel it too.

He was till trying to sort through his body's sudden reaction to her touch when she said, "Th-thank you."

Then he realized how awkward the moment was, he set her down, he knew she wouldn't want to touch his scaly skin any longer than she had to, "Thank you," she said again.

"No matter," he replied, his voice unnerved.

"I'll, um, put the curtains back up," she said trying desperately to diffuse the awkward moment.

He turned away, leaving her to put the drapes up again, but then turned back, "Uh… there's no need, I'll get used to it," he surprised even himself with those words. Then he walked away, still trying to decipher why his nerve endings seemed so sensitive where she touched him or why his heart was still beating wildly in his ribcage or why his stomach felt like he just dropped off a cliff.

What he didn't know was that Belle was feeling the exact same way.

* * *

Rumplestiltskin burst into the main hall, fuming. The stupid mermaid wanted to renegotiate, shouldn't everyone know by now that he didn't do that. What's worse is that the idiot fish kept him from his castle all day. He hadn't seen Belle at all. Finally he got the mermaid to agree to the original deal… again. Now he had her voice and she had her precious legs. It was hardly worth the trouble.

But then he saw Belle curled up in his chair, sleeping, and his anger and annoyance dissipated. He could never get over how beautiful she was. He noticed she had a book in her arms, though it wasn't opened, she must have been waiting for him, but why?

Then he noticed that she was shivering, it was late, and the fire must have died down long ago. Without thinking, he scooped her up in his arms. He didn't want to wake her so he picked her up slowly and waited for her sleeping form to get comfortable in his arms, she burrowed closer to his chest then let out a content sigh, he couldn't help but smile. Then he began walking slowly towards her room.

He vaguely felt like he was taking care of a child when he tucked her away under the covers, but he didn't care, he wasn't going to let her freeze just because he felt slightly awkward. Then he left the room, wondering how he was going to use the mermaid's voice.

* * *

He was standing in the middle of the Evil Queen's tower, waiting for her majesty to grace him with her presence. She had summoned him for a meeting, but apparently was too busy to show up. _Oh well, _he thought plopping himself down in Regina's throne. He wondered if the Queen was finally desperate enough to enact his curse.

Rumplestiltskin silently wished that he didn't need to rely on the Evil Queen to put his plans in motion. But he didn't have the most important ingredient; he didn't have someone he loved to take a heart from.

Then a sudden thought came to him. Belle. He was definitely fond of her, he knew that. He could…

NO! his mind screamed, that was a horrid thought. He was sure that if Belle died, the person responsible would be punished far more severely than anything magic could dish out, for killing someone who was the embodiment of all things pure and good as she was. Who could be evil enough to harm Belle?

Finally the Queen walked into the room.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to show up," Rumplestiltskin said, he was still sitting in her throne.

She eyed him suspiciously, she definitely did not like the idea of him even portraying that he was the one in power, he knew that was a sore spot for her, so he even grinned at the daggers she was glaring his way. "Oh, Rumple, I'm glad to see you're here," she said with an ugly sneer on her face.

"Oh, I can see that, dearie," he said with his usual giggle. "Why did you want me here in the first place?"

"I just wanted to chat," Regina said with a pout, "It's been ages since we last spoken, Rumple."

_With good reason, _he thought, though he just nodded his head disinterested.

"I especially wanted to discuss you new caretaker," Rumplestiltskin's head immediately whipped around to glare at the Evil Queen, his usual jovial expression turned dark, "Oh, yes," she went on, "I know all about your little house pet, wherever did you get her?" there was an awful smile on her face that meant nothing good.

He opened his mouth the cast a horrible spell on her (probably something that had to do with never ending horrors) but then he promptly closed it again, no matter how much he hated to admit it, he needed her.

The Queen cackled at his reaction, "Aren't you wondering how I know?" that terrible smile was still on her face, she leaned forward conspiratorially, "You should tell her to stay away from the mirrors."

He stood up from her throne and began walking around her. "Why did you want me here?" he asked again, trying to steer the conversation away from Belle.

It worked, thank the gods. "You know why."

He did, but he wanted her to say it. She knew that.

"I called on you to kill you, of course," she said with a vicious smile spreading across her face. He nodded; she's been at this for years, never succeeding.

"I'm unkillable, dearie; you should know that by now."

"How about another lesson," with that her form changed into that of a panther and she leapt at him. He quickly snapped his fingers, aiming for the main hall of his castle. His form was almost gone, but not before a hot, heavy paw raked its razor sharp claws deep down the length of his arm, making him cry out in pain before he completely disappeared.

**A/N: Muahahahahahahahaha! Cliff hangers are just evil aren't they? I hope you all enjoyed reading this and please, please, please review.**

**And I am so sorry fans of The Little Mermaid, it's just that it's my favorite Disney movie and I needed to mention it somehow, and sadly I don't think that Rumple would feel the same way I do about mermaids.**

**Oh, and please tell me if you like my writing, cause I need to know if I'm doing a good job.**

**Thanks again! Review please; I need to know if Rumple was OOC because I think he was.**


	3. I'm Fine

**A/N: The reviews are awesome! I had no idea how addicting they could be, now I really need more.**

**Anyway. There's gonna be one more chapter after this so soak up all the fluff you can. And I think my story writing is getting better, if I do say so myself. Of course that means my grammar is probably getting worse and the chapters are getting longer, but oh well.**

**Now enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Once Upon a Time it would not be as awesome as it is, mainly because I couldn't keep doing these horrible things to the characters.**

Odd

He landed unsteadily in the main hall; his hand was covering his arm, trying to staunch the flow of blood. But he could feel the blood oozing through his fingers.

Belle was sitting in his chair, waiting for him, as usual. Why had he decided to appear in the main hall of all places? She beamed at him when she saw him, "Welcome back, Rum. How-," her sentence broke off the second she noticed the blood. It was dripping from his arm onto the ground, almost forming a puddle, and he was swaying on his feet. "What happened?" she demanded, but she didn't expect an answer, as she pulled him by his good arm to sit him in the chair she just occupied.

Rumplestiltskin shook his head numbly, "I'm fine, Belle, go to bed," he lied. Though he didn't stop her, he doubted he could in his current state. Once she got him in the chair and checked to make sure he didn't have any other wounds she looked at him with a worried expression on her face, "I'm going to go get some supplies… please don't die while I'm gone," with that she left the room.

Rumplestiltskin watched her leave, puzzling over her actions. Why was she trying to save him? Surely she should be laughing at him while he bled to death on the floor.

Then he gazed down at his arm, he thought about healing it with his magic but immediately cast the thought aside, the wound was to large for his magic to stitch together, and, in his current state, casting a spell would not be a good idea. He could see the blood dribbling through his fingers and forming a pool over the side of the chair. He knew that this should worry him, but his foggy brain kept him from fretting over it.

He could feel the blackness fanning from the edges of his mind, trying to take over his consciousness. "Rum!" Belle shouted, keeping him awake for the moment.

She rushed over to his side and pulled his hand off of his arm, then began dabbing the wound with the water and cloth she brought with her. When the soapy washcloth made contact with his bloody wound a wave of new, fresh pain suddenly washed over him causing him to cry out, "Ow! That hurts!" he bellowed.

"That's the point," she replied, trying, and failing, to keep her voice calm, "you need to stay conscious while I stop the bleeding," she dipped the, now, pink cloth into the water then put back on his arm.

"Ow!" he cried again, "Stop that!" he ordered. Belle dropped the towel into the tub of water and glared at him, annoyed. Since he was technically her master she had to obey him, but that didn't mean she was going to give up.

"Oh great and powerful Dark One," she started with sarcasm laced in her voice, "do you want to die from a scratch?"

Rumplestiltskin stared at her dumbfounded. No one had ever spoken to him like that, not since he got his powers. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not.

He mumbled something along the lines of, "no, but I don't want it to hurt either". Belle took that as she could continue saving him and began soaking up the blood again. "Too bad," she said, "that's what you get for nearly dying."

He watched as she finally staunched the blood flowing from his arm, and then began skillfully wrapping it in a bandage. She was almost done when he asked, "How do you know how to do this?"

She looked at him with an amused smile tugging at her lips before returning to the bandage. "What? Did you think that I was just another stupid, hopeless royal?" she shook her head at the thought, "No, when I was a child I asked the servants to teach me how to cook, clean, sew, and tend to wounds. My father was against it, he said it wasn't right for a princess to know such trivial things, but I found them more interesting than politics."

Rumplestiltskin pondered that for a moment. Would she ever cease to surprise him? He nodded, "I agree, politics are dreadfully boring," then he let out his giggle and Belle laughed as well.

She was relived; if he was making jokes then he was going to be fine. After she finished with the bandage she dragged him to his room. She sat heavily on the chair next to his bed. He looked at her with an odd expression on his face, "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm not going to take the chance of you bleeding out in the middle of the night," she said as though it were obvious. He stared at her with the same odd look as he climbed into bed, he was asleep within minutes, apparently almost dying takes a lot out of a person.

Belle didn't stay in the chair for long, she stood up and started pacing, she wanted to shout at Rum, she wanted to scold him for scaring her like that, instead she settled for whispering 'cause she didn't want to wake him.

"What were you thinking?" she started fiercely (as fiercely as you can in a whisper) directing all her words at him, "Who did this anyway? Why do they want to kill you? And what were you thinking, telling me you were fine? You were obviously not fine. What did you think I was going to do? Run away? Why would I do that? I have no reason to, _I love you…"_

She froze, did those words really just come out of her mouth. She turned to look at Rumplestiltskin, he didn't even stir, and then she went back to her thoughts, quietly this time.

She couldn't love him, could she? No, no she couldn't, he was her master, not to mention the infamous Dark One. He's done unspeakable things; he takes first born children and leaves destruction in his wake. She's heard all the rumors and he's even told her a few horrific stories himself, just to scare her, she knew. So there was no way she could possibly love him, and yet...

He gave her full access to his gigantic library, he tells her about all the places he's been to in full detail, and he doesn't treat her as a slave, as she expected, he treats her almost as an equal. He's been almost… kind to her, nothing like he terrifying beast of legend. He even seemed fond of her more unladylike pursuits, such as reading and speaking her mind, things frowned upon in her father's court. In some ways her life was better here, with him…

Now, the question was: how did he feel about her?

* * *

Rumplestiltskin really, really, really wanted to kill the Evil Queen. He wanted to torture her until she begged for death. Of course, these weren't new feeling, but they were amplified by the fact that his arm was practically useless for three days. Belle forced him to do nothing until the scratch was healed enough for his magic to stitch up. It was absolutely horrible. He spent the time plotting revenge, of course he couldn't do anything to harm Regina, he still needed her, but he could certainly make her life a living hell.

Belle spent most of that time making sure that Rum didn't try to leave his room, she was very glad that injuries messed with magic so he couldn't poof away. When she wasn't doing that she was exploring a room she found upstairs.

It wasn't all that different from the other rooms, but she had found some clothes in the closet. The only other rooms she knew that had clothes were hers and Rum's, and she wasn't sure why there would be clothes here. No one else lived in the castle (she hoped) so she decided to investigate the clothes.

Upon further inspection of the clothes she found that there were only 5 pairs, she picked up one of the shirts. It was small, for a teenager, maybe someone younger, she found several rips in the shirt that had been badly sewn up, and the fabric felt rough and not very comfortable. She concluded that the clothes were for a peasant boy, but why would Rum keep them. Maybe they used to be his? No, he didn't seem to be the type to keep old clothes, especially if the were reminiscent of harder times. Maybe he had a son? That would make sense, but it brought up a new question: where was his son now?

She was going to find out.

* * *

Rumplestiltskin stared out the window, he still wasn't sure if he like the light or not, but it seemed to make Belle happy so he didn't think on it too much. Belle walked around the table towards him, she had that look on her face, the one that meant she was going to ask a personal question, he almost walked away right there. But he stayed, wondering what her curiosity had for him today.

"Why did you want me here?" she asked.

"The place was filthy," he answered quickly; he took a sip of tea from the chipped cup.

"I think you were lonely," she said, seeing through his jest. _If she thought she already knew the answer then why did she ask the question? _He thought to himself as she continued, "Any man would be lonely."

"Well, I'm not a man," he said, sitting next to Belle. It was true, the curse of the Dark One made him more creature than man, and being the Dark One for centuries, well, there was no way he could be classified as a man.

Belle decided to change the subject to what she really wanted to talk about, "So I've had a couple of months to look around, you know, and… upstairs there's clothing, small, as if for a child. Was it yours or was there a son?"

If Rumplestiltskin wanted to leave earlier, now he wanted nothing more than to bound out of the room. After a pause he said, "There was- there was a son. But I lost him, as I did his mother."

Belle was shocked to see him answer truthfully, and she wondered why, after all this time of question dodging, was he finally answering some? "I'm sorry," and she meant it with all he heart.

They were silent for a moment, before she finally said, "So you were a man once? An ordinary man?" he didn't answer, he seemed to be trying not to look at her. She sighed, "If I'm never going to know another person in my whole life, can't I at least know you?"

Rumplestiltskin had that look on his face, the one that meant he wasn't going to answer any more questions. "Perhaps," he started, "perhaps you just want to know the monsters weaknesses, neh, neh, neh neh neh."

"You're not a monster," she said as if it were the truest thing she'd ever say, "you think you're uglier than you are, that why you cover all the mirrors up, isn't it? Hmm."

Suddenly there was a loud knocking at the castle doors, making Rumplestiltskin's head whip around. Who was foolish enough to come to the Dark Castle, into the lion's den? He opened the large double doors; of course, it was that idiotic knight, the one that was engaged to Belle, no doubt here to whisk her away from her horrible task master. The knight began to speak but Rumplestiltskin wasn't listening. With a snap of the fingers the dull knight was transformed into a beautiful rose.

Belle turned to him when he entered the room, "Who was that?" she asked.

"Just an old woman selling flowers," he lied easily, then he pulled the rose out from behind his back. He heard the small gasp when she saw it, "Here," he said, "If you'll have it."

Belle took the rose from him, his heart skipped a beat when her hands brushed against his, and she said as if speaking to royalty, "Why, thank you," then she gave a small bow which Rumplestiltskin returned. Then she went to find a vase for the rose, he thought it was as good a time as any to steer the conversation away from him.

"You had a life, Belle, before this," he started, "friends, family, what made you choose to come here with me?" he had been wondering this for some time.

He got an answer he didn't expect, "Heroism, sacrifice," she began, "You know there aren't a lot of opportunities for women in this land to show what they can do, to see the world, to be heroes. So when you arrived that was my chance. I always wanted to be brave; I figured do the brave thing and bravery will follow."

"And was it everything that you hoped?" he said it as a jest but he really wanted to know.

She set the rose in its vase on the table, "Well, uh, I did want to see the world, that part didn't really work out," she said casting a look his way, but she was still smiling, "but, I did save my village."

Now for the question he really wanted to hear to answer to, "And what about your betrothed?" he said trying not to look at the flower.

"It was an arranged marriage; honestly, I never really cared much for Gaston." That was what he wanted to hear, "No to me, love is- love is layered, love is a mystery to be uncovered. I could never truly give my heart to someone as superficial as he," Rumplestiltskin was extremely happy with her answer, though he wasn't entirely sure why, "But, um, you were going to tell me about your son."

He knew this was coming, "I'll tell you what," he said, "I'll make you a deal, go to town and fetch me some straw, when you return I'll share my tale," he could see the surprise in her face at what he just said.

"Town? You trust me to come back?"

"Oh, no, I expect I'll never see you again," and those words coming out of his mouth sounded like the worst thing ever. Never seeing her again? That was worse than death. But he had to let her go, she was getting to close and he couldn't have that.

* * *

Belle had no idea what she was going to do. Rum had let her go, he didn't expect her to come back, she could go home to her father, but that also meant that she probably wasn't ever going to see Rum again, and that sounded like the worst torture imaginable.

She was walking towards the town, lost in thought, when she heard a carriage making its way down the road; she quickly got out of its way, but it stopped right beside her.

A woman with a fake smile opened the door of the carriage, "Did my carriage splash you?" though it didn't sound like she cared much one way or the other.

"Oh, um, I'm fine," Belle said, she didn't like this woman, but she wasn't sure why.

"You know I'm tired of riding," the woman said suddenly, "Let me stretch my legs and walk with you for a spell?" though it sounded more like a demand than a question.

They walked together in front of the carriage, the woman seemed bent on making conversation, "You carry very little."

"I don't want to be slowed down," Belle said without thinking,

"Ah, you're running from someone," the woman said with a chuckle, "The question is master or lover?" Belle looked away, "Oh, master _and _lover."

"I might take a rest," Belle said, trying desperately to get away from this woman, "you- you go on ahead."

But the woman put an arm over Belle's shoulders and continued on, "So if I'm right, you love your employer, but you're leaving him."

"I might love him, I mean I could, but something evil has taken root in him," Belle found herself explaining to the strange woman.

"Sounds like a curse to me," the woman said. What did she know of curses? "And all curses can be broken," Belle felt hope bloom inside of her. Could she help him? Could they be… together? "A kiss born of true love will do it," the woman continued. When she saw the look on Belle's face she let out a false laugh, "Oh, child, no, I would never suggest a young woman to kiss a man who held her captive. What kind of message is that?"

"Right," Belle said, even though she knew she was going to at least try.

"Besides, if he loved you," the stranger continued, "he would have let you go, and if he doesn't love you, well then, the kiss won't even work."

"Well, he did let me go," Belle said excitedly. Could he truly love her?

"Yes, but no kiss happened," the woman countered.

"And a kiss- a kiss is enough?" Belle clarified, "He'll be a man again?"

"An ordinary man," the stranger seemed almost triumphant with those words, "true love's kiss will break any curse."

* * *

Rumplestiltskin was standing at the window, waiting for a sign, anything that would tell him that maybe, just maybe, Belle had come back. He knew any sane person would choose freedom over him, but Belle had chosen him before, maybe she would choose him again, at least he could hope.

Then he saw her, in her blue and gold cloak, carrying straw. At that sight he felt as if he could do anything (which he already could, but that was beside the point). He bounded down the stairs to take up his usual spot at the spinner's wheel, no point in making her think he was waiting for her.

She walked into the room a moment later with the straw, "You're back already," he said, trying to contain his excitement, _she's back, _he could hardly believe it, "good- good thing, I'm, um, I'm nearly out of straw."

"Come one, you're happy that I'm back," she said. Could she really read him that easily?

"I'm not unhappy," he said truthfully.

"And, uh, you promised me a story," she said. She put her hands on his shoulders, she was so close, _again, _it made his heart jump to his throat.

"Did I?"

"Mmm hmm," she took the thread from his hand and set it aside so that she could sit on the wheel. Rumplestiltskin really hoped he didn't look as nervous or frightened as he felt, because his body was reacting to every touch and smile she sent his way and he didn't know why, "Tell me about your son," she said kindly, as though she knew how painful it was for him.

Strangely he found himself telling her what he told no one else, even if it was vague, "I lost him, there's nothing more to tell, really."

"And since then you've loved no one?" Belle said. Could he really be that lonely? Has he lived so many years without love? "And no one has loved you?"

He leaned closer to her, "Why did you come back?" he seemed almost desperate to turn the conversation to her.

"I wasn't going to, then something changed my mind," _or someone, _she thought.

Then she leaned closer to him, and he to her, until finally their lips met. It wasn't a deep kiss and it really didn't last that long, but it was passionate. She poured all her love into that one kiss. She felt him push his lips to hers almost hesitantly; like he might scare her if he kissed back.

They slowly moved apart, much sooner than she liked, and then she watched him change.

It was strange, Rumplestiltskin thought, as he pulled back from the wonderful kiss, it felt like something was leaving him, like something was draining from him, "What's happening?" he muttered.

She put her hands on his shoulders and cupped his face, "Kiss me again, its working," she said excitedly.

"What is?" What was so talking about?

"Any curse can be broken," she said simply.

Then the last puzzle piece fell into place, because, after all, who would ever willingly kiss him, "Who told you that?" he shouted, "Who knows that?"

Belle's face fell, she began stuttering in Rumplestiltskin's sudden rage, "I-I don't know, she- she, uh, she-."

"She," he growled, he knew exactly who "she" was, he marched towards the giant mirror and yanked off the covering, "You evil soul," he thundered, "this was you, you turned her against me. You think you can make me weak? You think you can defeat me?" he had all his attention on the Evil Queen; he was going to show her exactly how powerful he was.

That is, until Belle spoke, "Who are you talking to?" he had looked mad, yelling at himself in a mirror.

"The Queen," Rumplestiltskin shouted, turning to her, "your friend the Queen. How did she get to you?"

She was confused, she had no idea how such a wonderful moment could have led to this, "The- the Queen? I don't-."

"I knew this was a trick," he continued, "I knew you could never care for me. Oh yeah, you're working for her, or is this all you? Is this you being the hero and killing the beast?"

Did he truly believe that? How could he just deny his feelings like that? Why couldn't he just let someone love him? "It was working-."

"Shut up!" he shouted.

"This means its true love-."

"Shut the hell up!"

"Why won't you believe me?"

He grabbed her by the arms, "Because no one, _no one_, could ever, _ever _love me!" he bellowed. Is that what he thought? It couldn't be; she had just shown him how much she loved him. Why was he choosing to be blind?

Rumplestiltskin felt uncontrollable rage flare up, he quickly dragged Belle down to the dungeon and threw her into her former cell, because he wouldn't let her be in the crossfire even if she was a spy sent by the Evil Queen, he wasn't going to let her get hurt, especially not by him.

By the time he was back in the main hall his anger bubbled over, and he began destroying everything in sight. A pole had somehow found its way into his hands and he attacked his cabinets with all his strength, finally he threw the stick down and felt his anger subsiding.

Then he thought of the Queen and her part in all this and his fury mounted again. He turned his attention to the forgotten tea set sitting on the table. The first cup hit the wall with a satisfying crunch, he threw anther one, and another one, and another on. Then his gaze fell on the chipped cup, his anger dissipated, leaving only emptiness.

* * *

Belle watched Rumplestiltskin walk into the room, she had almost lost all the will to fight, and she knew that she would take any punishment he had planned as she said, "So what are you going to do with me?"

The look on his face nearly broke her heart, she could still see the love, but he had pushed it down to a place where he couldn't feel it and he now adopted a cold expression, "Go," he said pointing towards the door.

"Go?" she hadn't expected that, she thought that at least he'd want her to be in the castle.

"I don't want you anymore, dearie," he said simply, it almost sounded like the truth, but she knew better.

She went to leave, and was almost out the door when she went back, she decided she wasn't going to take this lying down, "You were freeing yourself," she said when she was in front of him, "you could have had happiness if you just believed someone could want you… but you couldn't take the chance," she was going to make sure that he knew why he was making this decision, because she knew it was going to haunt him.

"That's a lie," he whispered. Though they both knew it was true.

Belle moved closer, "You're a coward Rumplestiltskin, and no matter how thick you make your skin, that doesn't change."

"I'm not a coward, dearie," how he hated that word, "its quite simple, really, my power means more to me than you."

They both knew that was a lie.

"No, no it doesn't, you just don't think that I can love you. Now you've made your choice," she could hear her voice wavering with tears but she wasn't going to back down, "and you're going to regret it… forever. All you'll have is an empty heart and a chipped cup." She walked out of the room just as he felt the hot tears roll down his face.

**A/N: Okay, so how many of you when you first saw the kiss were like me and were thinking "Yes! This is the best episode ever!" Hands up, please.**

**Then when you saw the aftermath of the kiss you were yelling at the tv saying "Come on! Its true love! What is wrong with you?" There should be more hands up than before.**

**But seriously, while I was writing this, I was heart broken. And every time I see that episode I really want to slap Rumple for making that stupid mistake, **_**again.**_

**Oh, and two more things: first, I would like to say that insulting Gaston is a lot more fun than it should be; second, I'm thinking about making a Belle is the Dark One fanfic after I'm done with this one, so tell me what you think about that.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading as always, there's one more chapter left, and please, please, please review, the buttons right there, is it really that hard? **


	4. Somehow, Someway

**A/N: Hi! Welcome to the last chapter of Odd. It has come to my attention that the title of this story no longer makes sense, whatever, I like it so its gonna stay.**

**I'm starting a new story, it will be up in about two weeks, and I think I'm going to call it **_**Darkness. **_**It's going to be a Belle is the Dark One fanfic, and I like it because I'm also going to have Baelfire in this one. **

**Thank you all who reviewed, even the people who sent in things that made no sense. That brings up a new question: do people just do that for fun? Because I got a review about jelly beans that I can't make sense of.**

**Anyway, I should warn you people that there are spoilers for A Land Without Magic in this, if you haven't seen it yet you should hold off on reading this till you have 'cause its much better than my rendition of it.**

**Well, I think that's it so… enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: If you've made it this far without reading a disclaimer then I suggest you go back and read a bit more carefully, who knows, you might even laugh.**

Odd

Belle left the Dark Castle feeling like her heart had been ripped out. She quickly walked down the path that led away from the large structure, struggling with keeping in the tears that threatened to overflow. Then she turned to look back on what was considered her home for the last few months, before the trees completely hid it from view.

Big mistake.

He was there, visible in one of the windows, watching her leave his realm. But his cold expression was gone, what replaced it was a look she had never seen on his face, it looked like he had no idea what to do, no idea how he should respond to the events that had just taken place. And, she was sure she must have imagined it, but she thought she saw tears tracks running down his face as well.

All she wanted to do now was to run back to the castle, to him, and show him exactly how much she loved him. But she couldn't keep being the brave one, he was going to have to come to her, or else this was going to happen again, and she didn't think she would be able to live through the heart break a second time.

She turned to leave, heading for town. She sighed; this was going to be a long walk.

Somewhere along the way, Belle couldn't help it, she just had to yell, "Why can't he just let me love him?" at that moment she was glad that most people were smart enough not to travel down the road that led to Rum's castle.

What she didn't expect was an answer, a small, timid voice echoed in her head when it said: _Maybe he was scared._

"I was scared!" she shouted, "I was afraid he wouldn't love me… that he wouldn't care."

_He does love you, _the voice said solemnly, _but he was afraid of losing you._

"He wouldn't have lost me; if he hadn't pushed me away I would have stayed with him forever."

_He knows that, and that's what he's afraid of. If you're close to him and you die or in some way leave him, then he will be alone, he's protecting himself, he's protecting you._

"But I wouldn't leave him, and it'll be years before I die," she had realized by now that she was arguing with herself, but she didn't really care.

Belle could almost see the voice shake its head, _He has many enemies, and you know that not one of them would hesitate to kill you to get to him._

She did know this, but it was really no excuse, he's going to have to learn that love is worth the possibility of getting hurt. Thankfully the voice decided not to push the point.

* * *

Belle traveled from town to town. She would stay in inns and be their bard for the night in exchange for food and a room. One night she even met a lovesick dwarf, and she hoped she helped him with his problems.

Then, finally, she entered her father's kingdom. When she got to the castle everyone ushered her to her father's study. They seemed overjoyed to have their princess back.

Belle stood outside the king's study, he was hunched over some papers, apparently unaware that his daughter stood ten feet away from him. She walked into the room with small steps, she saw guards standing on either side of the door inside the study. "Papa?" her father froze, then he slowly looked up as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing, then when he saw her he jumped from behind his desk and wrapped her in a giant bear hug which she happily returned.

"Belle… oh, my girl," her father whispered. Then reluctantly he pulled back to look at her face, "How are you here? Did you escape? Are the ogres coming back?"

"No, Papa, he let me go, he-," Belle started, but her father cut her off.

"The Dark One would never do such a thing. He's _evil_ Belle, he's not capable of such a thing as kindness," the king seemed to be trying to will Belle to know this, that it was immensely important that she doesn't think anything other than this.

"But, Papa, he is, he was kind to me while I was there, and he will make sure that our deal stands."

Then an awful false laugh rang out around the room, Belle stepped away from her father, and saw a horribly familiar woman standing in the corner, "I told you, my king," the woman said, shooting a haughty look Belle's way, "the Dark One has obviously cast a spell on your poor daughter."

Belle glared at the woman, the Queen, she now knew, "You!" Belle growled, "You evil soul! You made me loose his trust, you told me to kiss him," then a horrible realization came over Belle, "You wanted him to lose his powers, you wanted to make him vulnerable so you could kill him."

At that moment Belle felt the large arms of the guards hook under her own, she only struggled for a minute, knowing it was futile anyway.

The Queen moved close to Belle, "And who would blame me, my dear Belle, everyone would be better off without the Dark One making their lives worse," she said.

"I don't think so," Belle whispered.

When the Queen was close enough she placed her hand under Belle's chin and raised it so that Belle was looking into her eyes, "My, my, he certainly did a number on you, didn't he? No doubt you believe he loves you now, hmm?"

If Belle wasn't raised as a princess the Queen would be cleaning spit out of her eyes right about now, "He does love me you vile harpy!" she spat.

An awful smirk spread across the Queen's face, "No need to be rude, Belle," she turned to the guards, "Take her to your king's tower, then send in the priests."

* * *

Belle sat staring out the window of her tower. She looked down, the drop was much to long for her to hope to survive, she sighed, how was she going to get out of this? She knew Rum would come for her eventually, but how long was eventually?

The clerics hadn't come yet, but she knew they would, and she knew they would bring torture devices with them. They thought she was tainted because she stood up for Rumplestiltskin, she shook her head, how could she be the only one to see any good in him, was he really that horrible?

She looked back out the window, in the general direction of his castle, "Please… come," she whispered willing that somehow, some way, he would know that she needed him.

"I'm here to help, my dear," Belle turned as fast as she could, but was disappointed to see an older woman with a shock of white hair and in a blue robe standing there instead of Rum. Inwardly she cursed herself for getting her hopes up; she should have known by the voice that it wasn't him.

"Who are you?" Belle asked suspiciously.

"Your fairy godmother, of course," the elderly woman said enthusiastically. Belle felt that there was something off about the woman; her hard, brown eyes didn't seem to match her kindly face.

"Fairy godmother? Why are you here?"

"To help you, my dear, I know you've done nothing wrong, I'm here to get you out of this mess."

Belle narrowed her eyes, "How could you know if I've done anything wrong?" she asked.

"As I said, I'm your fairy godmother, I know everything that happened to get you here; I know the only thing you're guilty of is falling in love," _finally, _Belle thought, _someone who understands._

"So how are you going to help?"

The elderly woman looked positively ecstatic at a chance to help. She quickly pulled a wand out from her sleeve and muttered a small spell. Then, out of a swirl of black and purple smoke came… Belle?

Belle looked at her doppelganger confused, then the woman clapped her hands excitedly, "Now I can help you escape and no one will come looking for you."

Realization dawned on Belle, this was a brilliant plan. Then she looked at her twin, worried, "She won't… feel anything, will she?"

The woman chuckled, "No, she's a clone, they don't have souls, so they can't feel pain or anything for that matter, don't worry about her she'll be fine." Belle nodded, "Now lets get out of this tower shall we," with that the woman waved her wand and in another puff of black and purple smoke they were gone.

* * *

Belle wound up being surrounded by stone on three sides, and there were metal bars that served as the fourth wall of her new prison. When Belle recovered from the transportation she saw the woman standing outside of her cell, "Why did you put me in here?" Belle shouted.

The woman let out a cackle, "To keep you from your true love, of course," then, to Belle's horror, the woman transformed into the Queen, "This way I don't have to worry about you going back to him."

Belle was speechless, not that she wanted to talk to this snake anyway.

The Queen cackled as she left the dungeon. Then Belle noticed the mirror facing her from the other side of the room. It showed the clone being tortured by the clerics; Belle really wished she was the clone right now.

She watched the clone being tortured for weeks until one fateful day she watched herself jump out the window and fall into a crumpled heap at the bottom of the tower. Belle was filled with dread.

Now everyone was going to think she was dead.

Now _he _was going to think she was dead.

He would never rescue her.

* * *

Rumplestiltskin was spinning. He had been doing that a lot lately, he was trying so hard to forget her, but every so often he would call for her in the castle so they could talk about something or he would go to the library to find her, only to remember that she was no longer there; that he had pushed her away.

The castle told him that the Evil Queen was on the grounds, coming for another visit, Rumplestiltskin wanted nothing more than to kill her on the spot, but he reminded himself, yet again, that he needed her for his plans.

He let her come in, and she started with her usual greeting, "Flimsy locks," she chuckled, and then she went right to business, "I have a deal to discuss- a certain mermaid."

Rumplestiltskin went back to his wheel, "I'm not dealing today," he said softly, he was in no mood for his usual jests and grand gestures.

"Are you angry with me?" Regina asked, though they both knew she didn't care, "What is it this time?"

Rumplestiltskin felt anger rise inside of him, "Your little deception failed," he said knowing that the Queen knew exactly what he was talking about, "You'll never be more powerful than me. You can keep trying, dearie, but you're never gonna beat me." He turned back to his spinning,

"Is this about that girl I met on the road, hmm?" she said with a mocking voice, "What was her name? Margie? Verna?"

"Belle," he said, almost reverently.

"Right," the Queen said, disappointed that he'd ruined her guessing game, "Well, you can rest assured that I had nothing to do with that tragedy."

He stopped his spinning. What could be tragic about Belle? He walked towards to Queen, "What tragedy?" he said dangerously.

"You don't know?" she said, as though it were a juicy bit of gossip, "wow. After she got home her fiancé had gone missing," Rumplestiltskin's muscles tensed, that had been his fault, he was the one who turned the oaf into a flower, "and after her stay here, her… association with you, no one would wanted her of course. Her father shunned her, cut her off, shut her out," Regina seemed happy about this, of course, she was always happy about someone else's pain.

Rumplestiltskin felt hope rise within him, he could help Belle, he could make up for his stupid mistake, he could be brave, "So she needs a h-home?"

All hope was erased when he heard the Queen's laughter, "He was cruel to her," she said, savoring every word as each one felt like a stab wound in his chest, "He locked her in a tower and sent in clerics to cleanse her soul with scourges and flaying," Rumplestiltskin winced, no, not his Belle, how could they hurt her like that… all because of him, "After a while she threw herself off the tower," he felt pain well up in his heart, no, she couldn't be… she couldn't of-, "she died."

Rumplestiltskin felt like he'd just been run over by a stampede of horses, she can't be dead, he would have felt it, he knew he would have, it would be as if all the world was plunged into darkness if she was gone… forever, "You're lying," he whispered.

"Am I," Regina returned without missing a beat, and, for once, Rumplestiltskin didn't know.

"We're done," he opened the doors so that this horrid woman could leave his presence.

"Fine," she said, "I have other calls to make."

While she left the Evil Queen ran a finger down his table and inspected it, "The place is looking dusty, Rumple," before she left she stood right in front of him, "You should get a new girl," if he could have killed her he would have, right there, and it would not have been a quick and painless death.

After the evil woman left, Rumplestiltskin did what he should have right after Belle had left.

He pulled the chipped cup from out of his cupboard, then removed a worthless chalice from its place of honor. Then he set the precious cup in its place, and he wept, he wept for his beautiful, lost love until the tears no longer came.

* * *

Rumplestiltskin moved his spinning wheel from the main hall into his potions room, he didn't want to be surrounded by all the memories of Belle in his castle; she had never been allowed in his potions room.

Of course, that didn't stop the thoughts of her. He wondered if she could really be… dead… gone… forever. He could hardly think those words, let alone believe them. But still, the Evil Queen didn't seem to be lying when she said them, and he could usually tell when the witch was being less than honest.

One night he had decided that he wasn't going to believe Regina and her lies, he also resolved to make sure that Belle was happy with her life at home. So he disappeared from his castle then reappeared in the bedroom of Belle's father.

The king was preparing for bed when the imp showed up. Rumplestiltskin immediately grabbed the monarch by the collar of his shirt and shoved him up against the wall, holding him there by the neck. "Where is she?" he growled at the king, and he momentarily loosened his hold so he could be answered.

The king was flustered by the sudden attack, he began stuttering, "She-she j-jumped, she's d-dead," Rumplestiltskin closed his eyes, trying to block the fresh grief that exploded in his heart; he wasn't going to let this imbecile see it.

He tightened his grip on the king's neck again, "_Where _is she?" he asked for the second time.

The king batted at the hand on his throat to no avail, "T-the temple… grave-graveyard," he finally choked out. Rumplestiltskin disappeared leaving the king to grasp at his throat.

* * *

The Dark One came to the graveyard in a swirl of purple smoke, and then he quickly cast an invisibility spell on himself so that no one could see him. He looked up at the temple of some long forgotten god that was patron to the city, next to the temple were the holy grounds, where people were buried, inside a fenced area.

He was sure he checked every headstone for Belle's name, with no luck, until he saw a length of freshly turned earth outside of the fence, he shook his head as he neared the grave, and sure enough her name was hastily carved in the rock that served as her headstone. He felt his knees give way when he was at the side of her grave, so what the Evil Queen said was true, Belle was dead, because of him, because he couldn't let her into his heart.

Then he felt his fury rise towards all the peasants who lived in this pit they called a city. She had saved all of them from the ogres by going with him, and when she came back they repaid her like this. They tortured her until she ended her own suffering by jumping off the tower, then they bury her on unholy ground, all because she had lived in the same castle as him for a few months. Then his anger dissipated because he knew this was all his fault, he couldn't blame anyone but himself for what happened.

He felt the familiar pang of guilt and sorrow. And he knew, now, more than ever that he loved her; that he truly cared for her. But now she was gone and it was all because he was too cowardly to admit to those feelings. He slumped by her grave and silently asked her for forgiveness that he didn't deserve.

Soon tears were running down his face, he stayed there all night and most of the next day, keeping a silent vigil by her grave, he would have stayed longer but he knew that Snow White would be calling on him soon and he needed to make a deal for a strand of her hair and begin setting his plans in motion. He sent one last, long look at the grave of his true love before completely disappearing.

* * *

Belle decided that she hated mirrors. She _hated _mirrors. The one that was in her dungeon had just shown her that wicked woman telling Rum that she was dead, then it had shown him at her grave.

Belle was sitting on the floor of her cell holding onto the bars as she watched Rumplestiltskin at her grave, she cried with him, wanting nothing more than to go to him and show that she was alive so she could end his pain. But she was stuck in this prison, and he thought she was gone from this life, he couldn't save her.

Then the poisonous harpy entered the dungeon, Belle quickly dried her tears, she knew what was coming next. And sure enough Belle felt the familiar pain shooting through her body, it ended almost as soon as it began but Belle was still panting. The Queen seemed to take great pleasure in torturing her; this only fueled the hate Belle had for the Queen even more.

When the Queen first did this she interrogated Belle about Rumplestiltskin, but, of course, Belle never answered a single question, so now the snake just did for some twisted version of fun. The Queen flexed her magic a few more times until she seemed satisfied with the amount of pain she had caused. She turned to leave as Belle shouted after her, "Why don't you just rip out my heart?" she knew this woman was notorious for doing such a horrible thing; she wondered why she hadn't practiced on her yet.

The Queen just chuckled, why was everything so amusing to this leech? "Why would I rip out your heart, Belle? Without it you would not be able to feel the everlasting pain of knowing you can't see your true love," she had on a triumphant smile, "besides, without your heart you wouldn't be worth as much to Rumple."

With that the Queen left the dungeon with Belle shouting obscenities after her. When she was sure that the woman had left, Belle flopped back on the ground and, once again, wished with all her might that Rumplestiltskin would find her, because somehow, someway, he had to. "I need you," she whispered, as if the words would reach him somehow.

* * *

"I was told to find you and tell you that Regina locked me up," she said. _She _said, he never thought he would ever hear her again and now she was standing in his shop. He couldn't believe it, he had thought about her everyday since he sent her away, and he kept her teacup as a reminder of her, as though he needed it. But she was dead, she couldn't be here.

_Maybe she isn't,_ he thought, _maybe I'm finally going crazy._ It wasn't much of a stretch considering who he used to be. She was speaking again, but he couldn't hear her, he moved slowly towards her as though any false move would make her disappear. Then he reached out and touched her, squeezing her shoulder, and she didn't evaporate, she was still standing there in his shop, alive, "You're real," he said, it was hardly comprehensible, "You're alive," then he realized what she said, "She did this to you."

She looked so lost as she said, "I was told you'd protect me."

Mr. Gold felt tears prick behind his eyes, "Oh, yeah," he whispered, "yes, I'll protect you." then he wrapped her in his arms and never, ever wanted to let go of her, because he knew this was a second chance, and he wasn't going to screw it up.

Unfortunately Belle moved from his embrace, much sooner than he wanted her to, "Sorry, do I- do I know you?"

She had no idea who he was, no idea, but she was here, he wondered if this was some cruel joke the curse was playing on its creator. Because now he had her, but she had no idea who she was or what she was to him.

"No," he said, "but you will," he knew that very soon Emma was going to break the curse and he was going to take full advantage of it.

* * *

She knew this man, she didn't remember him, she didn't remember anything but that _damn _room, but she knew him. He was so familiar, but off somehow. First off he didn't need a cane to walk and second his voice was too deep, she didn't know how she knew this but she did. Also his hair was too straight, it should be wavy and curly, and the biggest thing was the color of his skin, shouldn't it be… green?

But his features were the same and those eyes, she definitely knew those eyes, their color was different as well, a soft brown now, but she recognized the level of intelligence and mischief and mystery and… love_. Love for me, _she thought, though she wasn't sure why.

He had led her out to the woods, he seemed very familiar with the paths and such, though she had no idea why a man with a limp would spend time getting to know the routes in the forest, it would hurt him wouldn't it? But he was moving faster than her, so, who knew.

Then she felt a rush of happiness, and suddenly she wasn't the girl who was locked in the hospital basement, no, now she was Belle, princess, and the true love of Rumplestiltskin. And he was standing right there, in front of her, "Wait," she called.

"No, no we're very close," he said. Where were they going anyway? Oh, well, it didn't matter, not to her anyway, not yet.

"Rumplestiltskin… wait," she said hoping for a better result. He froze and slowly turned towards her, "I remember," she assured him, coming closer, "I love you."

Then they wrapped their arms around each other, this time Belle was the one who didn't want to let go, they were finally together again, "Yes," she heard him say into her hair, "yes, and I love you too," she was surprised by that, the last time she spoke to him he couldn't even admit those words to himself, let alone to her. _Maybe he's changed, _she thought. "But hey," he said, pulling away from her and cupping her cheek with his hand, "there'll be time for that, there'll be time for everything, but first, there's something I must do."

_What could be more important than this? _She thought. She followed him to a well, "What is this?" she asked.

"This is a very special place, Belle," he explained, "The waters that run below are said to have powers to return that which one has lost," then he walked to the well, pulling something out of his pocket, Belle followed. He dropped a vial, a potion of some sort she assumed, into the basin. Then billowing purple smoke came from the well, and she took a quick step back.

"I don't understand," she said. What was he doing?

"We are in a land without magic, Belle, and I'm bringing it," he said, "Magic is coming."

Why would he do that? Magic had caused so many problems. Couldn't he see that? "Why?" she asked.

"Why," he echoed, "because magic… is power," _maybe he hasn't changed after all._

**A/N: I know, it's not the best ending. You may (or may not) have noticed that I didn't really use anything from the second season, that's because I came up with this after I saw the first season and I didn't really want to include the stuff from the second season. So this is what could have happened if the second season wasn't around yet.**

**Thank you again so much for reading and reviewing, you are all awesome! And please read my new story when it comes up.**

**And I just can't stress how happy I am with reviews. Pl****ease tell me how I did, PLEASE.**


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